David Justka has been a bus driver for EMTA. In 2000, he hit a pedestrian and in 2005, he hit and killed David Sanders, who was on a bicycle at the time. He was fired after that incident yet for some reason an arbitrator awarded him his job back. On Tuesday, he struck a 16-year-old female McDowell Intermediate student with his bus. Police have charged Justka with a traffic violation. Justka has been placed on leave, but we hope EMTA will keep him off the road from now on.
The Erie County budget is here. County Executive Mark DiVecchio announced the proposed budget of $78 million last night. The budget will not include a tax increase but as a result, includes 44 job cuts so that no county services will be reduced. The county has until December 1 to come up with a final budget. The general public will get a look at the budget when it’s posted online on October 10.
Country Fair, in conjunction with a number of other local businesses, are offering nineteen $1,000 scholarships to area schools. By patronizing local Country Fair stores or the Country Fair event trailer at various high school football games, the participant will get a punch card that when completely filled out, the participant can turn in for a chance to win one of nineteen $1,000 scholarships.
If you were planning to visit any of the branches of the Erie County Library, you may want to make alternate plans. All local branches will be closed today for staff training.
VisitErie is now reaching a new type of audience with the creation of both a MySpace page and Facebook group. People can join the friend lists, check out their latest video posts, profile pages, discussion and comment boards, bulletins, blogs and photos! Visit the VisitErie MySpace page and VisitErie Facebook page. Note to VisitErie – link us up on your website.
The US Senate passed a new version of the “Bailout Bill.” Both PA senators Casey and Specter voted for the bill. The House is expected to vote on the new bill on Friday.
The richest man on Earth, Warren Buffett, continues to invest in this down market. Just a few weeks after announcing a major investment in Goldman Sachs, he announced yesterday that he’s and his company Berkshire Hathaway will purchase $3 billion of preferred stock in General Electric. It will be part of GE’s $12 billion common stock offering as it attempts to maintain its very good credit rating. People in Erie are breathing just a bit easier today, we imagine. One share of Berkshire Hathaway stock costs $137,000. Seriously.
U.S. Senator Arlen Specter will hold a town hall meeting at Allegheny College on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 10:45 a.m. in the Tippie Alumni Center. Constituents will be invited to discuss issues important to the region, the state and the nation. Senator Specter will address the audience briefly and devote the remainder of the hour to responding to constituents’ questions and concerns.
Governor Ed Rendell named Dr. Corrine Sweeney, one of the state’s top veterinary doctors, and John “Jeb” Hannum III, a horse-training specialist with international credentials, to fill two open posts on the three-member Horse Racing Commission. Pennsylvania has three thoroughbred tracks in the state including Presque Isle Downs and Casino here in Erie, Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Bucks County, and Penn National in Grantville, Dauphin County.
The Corporation for Penn State Behrend will receive $25,000 through grant money from Verizon Pennsylvania. The grant was made possible through Verizon’s participation in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit plan, which is administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development. Tax credits are given to businesses that make contributions to scholarship organizations, educational improvement organizations or pre-K scholarship organizations. The Corporation for Penn State is a non-profit corporation established to promote the interests of the Penn State University system.
Giant Eagle will be offering pneumonia and flu shots at various grocery store locations in the area over the next few weeks (PDF).
Fresh on the heals of the new polling results showing Kathy Dahlkemper with a lead over Phil English, comes the new TV ad put out by the National Republican Congressional Committee today. Sled dogs? Really?
Sports
Voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates Lanny Frattare is retiring after 33 seasons. He began broadcasting games in 1976 and has announced more Pirates games then any other broadcaster, including Bob Prince.
The Allegheny College women’s volleyball team knocked off undefeated Hiram, 3-2, to hand the Terriers their first conference loss of the season.
The Gannon University women’s soccer team made a big leap in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, beating IUP 1-0 in a rain-soaked match Wednesday at Gannon University Field.
Sarah Powell scored a brilliant goal off of a Jamie Schroter indirect free kick, leading the Mercyhurst women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory at PSAC West opponent Lock Haven Wednesday. The No. 7 Mercyhurst men’s soccer team fought through a physical double-overtime match at Lock Haven, earning a 1-1 draw.
Events
The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority will hold a public meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. at the authority’s conference room at the Intermodal Transportation Center. The meeting will allow the public to comment on the preliminary work being done on a waterfront master plan.
Mercyhurst College will welcome Joan Rosenhauer, associate director of the United States Catholic Bishops Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, to campus on Thursday, Oct. 9, when she will speak on “Faithful Citizenship.” Her talk, slated for 8:15 p.m. in Taylor Little Theatre, is free and open to the public.
Dr. David Kozak, professor of public policy and director of the Institute for Policy and Leadership Studies at Gannon University, will hold a forum exploring where the candidates stand on some of today’s most important issues at a presentation at Mercyhurst North East. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Tuesday, October 14, at 7:30 p.m., in the Alex Theater on the MNE campus. Call (814) 725-6277 for more information.
Learn how to add authentic Polish foods to your upcoming holiday menus at a workshop led by Larry Kozlowski, Polish culture expert and director of student life at Mercyhurst North East. The workshop will be held Thursday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m., in the Miller building, room 116 on the MNE campus. The workshop is free and open to the public. Call (814) 725-6277 for more information.
The Mary Ann McCormick Bow Wow Country Ball will be held at Rainbow Gardens on Friday, October 24th, 2008, from 6:30 to 11 p.m. The cost is $35 with a chuck wagon of chili and hot “doggies” will be provided (BYOB). Two time Rock Erie Award winner for best country band Next of Kin will entertain along with a bronco bull, casino tables, silent auction and more. Please contact Joe Grisanti at the Humane Society for more information at (814) 835-8345.
Local author and historian Stephanie Wincik will discuss some of Erie County’s most eerie legends and lore, explore theories surrounding ghosts and spirits, and will read excerpts from her latest book, “Reaching Through the Veil: Ghost Hunting in Erie County” at a presentation on Tuesday, October 28, at 7:30 p.m., at in the Alex Theater on the Mercyhurst North East campus. The presentation is free and open to the public. Call (814) 725-6277 for more information.
View this past Sunday’s comprehensive events list to see a list of events for the week and months ahead. If you would like your event posted here, please contact us via our online form.
I saw that sled dog ad this morning and thought for a moment I had slipped into a psychotic break. “Wacky ideas like walking…!” indeed.
That sled dog ad made me LOL. How dare she suggest that people “make personal sacrifices,” “walk places” or “ride bikes!” Outrageous!
Looking at Phil English and Kathy Dahlkemper, is it REALLY that surprising that Kathy would think of walking or riding a bike and Phil would not? Is walking or riding a bike that huge of a sacrifice?
The sled dogs reminded me of the ad about Sarah Palin supporting the barbarous and cruel practice of hunting wolves (and bears) from helicopters. So, given how similar sled dogs can look to wolves, this could be really dangerous, I suppose.
My energy solution was to just get Kathy to give me gas cards whenever I needed them!
Seriously, when was the last time you walked or road a bike to work? I work 7/10ths of a mile from my house and have walked 4 times in the last 5 years because the car was in the shop. This is not a viable solution. DRILL HERE DRILL NOW
Yinz seem to have the same opinion I do, and posted in the open thread (no one wrote me back, I felt lonely and came here).
http://www.erieblogs.com/archives/2008/09/open_thread_for_15.php
If you work 7/10ths of a mile from work and think walking on occasion is not viable then you are an illustration of what is wrong with America. It should take you AT MOST 20 minutes to walk a mile at a very easy pace, you could probably shave it to 15 minutes by walking fast. That doesn’t sound too cruel and unusual, that doesn’t sound like too much to ask of people.
New drilling off of our coasts would not truly impact your day to day for several years. You know how long it takes to build that kind of infrastructure? You wouldn’t be seeing a drop of gas refined from these new wells for many, many months/years.
Repealing the gas tax is another blunder of an idea. We NEED that money to work on our infrastructure, pay for road salt, and all other tasks that ensure that we Americans CAN drive that 7/10ths of a mile to work on a decent road.
“Seriously, when was the last time you walked or road a bike to work?”
Today.
Before that? Yesterday.
Before that? The day before yesterday.
And on and on and on.
I rarely drive to work anymore…and I have a few friends who routinely walk or ride their bikes to work and to run errands. And I encounter quite a few other people (more in the past six months than ever before) who are also riding their bikes or walking to work.
I have several hills and it takes me 30 minutes. One way. 1 Hour per day. Let’s say I make $15 an hour. This is a study in economics. I can make the drive often in 1 song on the radio. If I spend that hour at work getting paid I can pay for maybe 2 or 3 weeks gas in 1 hour. My time has value and I do like to walk, but walking today in Erie with a tie on? Oh and I travel 2 days a week so that doesn’t work.
I have two kids. So I get 5 hours less a week with them thanks to this so called non-sacrifice.
This is the United States of America, a ‘free’ country but you are trying to make me feel guilty because I want to spend time with my kids and don’t want to sweat/or freeze on my way to work.
I am sure you are all ‘pro choice’ so let me choose to drive my car with gas I pay for with the time that I save. And you if you want to walk or ride to work good for you. I CHOOSE not to.
One more thought on the fact that I will use less than 2 full tanks of gas to drive back and forth to work in a year. If you are so worried about the environment, then move closer to where you work. I probably have one of the lowest carbon footprints around ( my car got over 38 MPG last tank). If you live farther than me from where you work and drive a car with worse fuel efficiency than you are worse for the environment than I am.
I have a GREEN friend who lives in Summit and has a lot of land. During the summer he uses more gas for his lawn mower in a week than I do driving to work. He thinks he’s more of an environmentalist than me because he cares and is ‘voting for change’. I am waiting for a Dahlkemper sticker any day now on his 14 MPG pick up truck.
I always thought actions spoke louder than words.
I like the new RSS feed. It used to come across with all the sentences butted against each other, no paragraphs. Now I am getting it the way it's supposed to be. Thanks.